is a story inspired by the Chinese influenced kaidan

Kaidan

Kaidan is a Japanese word consisting of two kanji: 怪 meaning “strange, mysterious, rare or bewitching apparition" and 談 meaning “talk” or “recited narrative.”-Overall meaning and usage:...

 Botan Dōrō

Botan Doro

Botan Dōrō is a Japanese ghost story that is both romantic and horrific. It involves sex with the dead and the consequences of loving a ghost.It is sometimes known as Kaidan Botan Dōrō, based on the kabuki version of the story...

. Published as a stenography narrated and created by the rakugo

Rakugo

is a Japanese verbal entertainment. The lone sits on the stage, called the . Using only a paper fan and a small cloth as props, and without standing up from the seiza sitting position, the rakugo artist depicts a long and complicated comical story...

 artist San'yūtei Enchō and written with the aid of both Sakai Shōzō (酒井昇造) and Wakabayashi Kanzō (若林玵蔵). Published in 1886, it is considered a famous kaidan in Japan.

Content and style

Kaidan Botan Dōrō is inspired by the Chinese influenced Botan dōrō, a story in which a young man falls in love with the spirit of a beautiful young woman. Nevertheless, San'yūtei's telling of the popular myth also tells the novel story of a young shoeman, Kōsuke, and his quest to avenge his deceased master. This adds a new story to the Botan dōrō myth and develops the relationships with the main characters. The book contains twenty-one chapters and a final chapter.
Written in a vernacular Japanese, Kaidan Botan Dōrō is one of the first books written in the unified language or Ichitai genbun, a free speech style resembling the spoken language of the time (Meiji

Meiji

Meiji may refer to:* Meiji Restoration, the revolution that ushered in the Meiji period* Meiji period - the period in Japanese history when the Meiji Emperor reigned...

 era).

Publication and influence

The book was first serialised in a newspaper and published every Sunday. It has also contributed to the success of publishing stenographies during the Meiji era.
Kaidan Botan Dōrō has had a notable influence on consequent versions, which are usually loosely based in San'yūtei's version of the story, including most theatre and cinematographic productions of the myth.

The stories

• The book can be divided into three main parts: the Tale of Kōsuke and his master Iijima, Shinzaburō and his ghost lover O-Tsuyu, and Kōsuke's revenge. The two first parts take place during the sixteen first chapters. Chapters seventeen through twenty-one tell the story of Kōsuke's revenge.

The sixteen first chapters are divided between two groups: odd chapters (Kōsuke and Iijima) and even chapters (Shinzaburō and O-Tsuyu).

• Chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 explain how Iijima Heizaemon, a notable hatamoto
  Hatamoto
  A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa...
  
  , killed a drunken samurai and how eighteen years, the latter's son, Kōsuke, became a servant to Iijima. Iijima is fooled by his wife, O-Kuni, who cheats on him with his nephew and the adulterers plan to kill the master. However, the hatamoto is killed in an accident and Kōsuke swears revenge. O-Kuni and her lover eventually flee the house of Iijima.

• Chapters 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 explain how Shinzaburō, a charming young man, meets Iijima's only daughter O-Tsuyu. They fall in love with each other but social class prevents them from being together. O-Tsuyu dies longing and returns during the Festival of spirits (O-Bon), to visit her lover. Shinzaburō's neighbours and servants, Tomozō and his wife, learn of the young man's misfortune but in the end help the spirit consume Shinzaburō's soul in exchange for money. Tomozō and his wife flee the neighbourhood.

All chapters after 17 explain how in a twist of events, Tomozō meets O-Kuni and both start a love affair resulting in the murder of Tomozō's wife. O-Kuni is finally faced with Kōsuke and Tomozō is arrested for his wife's murder. In the final chapters Kōsuke meets his mother who left him alone as a child.